by A. I. Zlato
“This cannot wait until tomorrow! We need to make her understand some things! It is time she stops the whims of a spoiled, rotten brat, that she …”
“Lars, not now. You are angry, and I understand your attitude. However, having a discussion in such a mindset would only aggravate things.”
“That is precisely why you are the one who needs to go speak to her!”
“Tomorrow; I promise, tomorrow.”
“Come on, do you realise what is going on? Her constant provocations, her anti-Machine viewpoints, and even her unbearable music … I could stand those things, but now she is crossing the line. What is she trying to prove? That she can bear excruciating pain? For what? To live on the margins of the City? This behaviour has to stop.”
“You are right, but I cannot do anything tonight. I am also focused on my investigation, and you know how important it is, not only for me, but for the City as a whole.”
Lars did not answer, but she realised his silence somehow meant approval. Knowing she would not get anything better from him, she snuggled against him. He did not push her as he did a moment earlier, and eventually even put his arm around her, fusing his head with hers. She felt her husband calming down gradually, able to channel his anger and resentment towards their daughter. She knew, however, that the fire continued to smoulder underneath that façade of calmness. After a few minutes of silence, she got up, and sensed he was ready to have a normal conversation, a discussion the topic of which would not be Iris.
“So how is your investigation going?”, Lars asked.
“I have a promising path … I think I found the common denominator among all these children.”
Lars knew she was not authorised to talk about an ongoing case. However, he asked a few questions, as he was concerned, like everyone else, by the Problem.
“Do you think you are close to a solution?”
“I don’t know. I need to implement an action plan now, and maybe Paul would help me.”
“Are you joking? The lab rat with no chip?”
“The same one … I know that sounds strange, but I can tell you those skills have ultimately proven to be an asset.”
“The Machine was right to assign him to you as a teammate.”
“I never doubted that”, she replied, lost in her thoughts.
She went to the kitchen to prepare an infusion made from non-lyophilised plants, her only luxury. She placed the leaves and dried flowers in a large cup before pouring the boiling water. Knowing Lars’ tastes, she concocted him another mixture, and came back, with two steaming bowls in her hands.
“Ah, some infusion … looks like the subject is not easy to tackle rationally, one might say”, he said, staring at her attentively.” Ok, I’m listening.”
“Lars, do you remember the discussion we had, about the modification of the Machine’s structure, which no one seemed to have requested?”
“Mmmm. Why?”
“I went into the new Pioneering Area in sector North-C4. As I had time to spare, I observed the architecture there. It is odd; that did not look like a part of a new Circle, intended to bring other Pioneering Areas together. There is a main road, which, of course, leads to the Machine, but which points, at the edge, towards the Unique Forest. Our discussion about Iris’ new activities had made that memory come to the forefront. One would think the Machine is building towards that Forest, and not around It, in order to create a new Circle. I don’t know why, maybe because the signal with the Machine is weaker than usual in that remote area. However, I wondered if the circuit changes you had discovered were not the root cause of this architectural modification. An internal modification in order to reach an external modification … Do you see what I mean?”
“Yes, I think, even though the connection between both does not seem logical to me. What did you see, exactly?”
“It is hard to explain, to put in words something I felt. I am sure I saw architecture that was different from what should have been.”
“Because you had seen other Pioneering Areas? Or was it the discussion we had about the changes in the Machine’s hardware that had disturbed you?”
“It is true I never strolled for so long in a Pioneering Area; it was just that I had the time, so …”
“Let me ask the question again: what did you see, exactly?”
“A vast construction site, work gear everywhere, only one building standing, the school, and pieces in construction. In addition, I clearly saw the construction, albeit incomplete, of a main road, which, instead of having a half-moon shape in order to connect to another Pioneering Area, was a straight line, connecting the Machine on one side and the Unique Forest on the other. Do you think we should report it? I mean, it could be a sum of errors from the builders, or maybe it is the result of a change in the Machine’s structure. We are maybe seeing the Machine’s first ever-recorded error.”
The simple mention of this possibility, even as a hypothesis, meant suffering for Baley; how could she think of doubting the Machine …
“To whom could we report it? This is nothing but feelings, conjectures, from a mechanic and a Special Agent … Nobody would want to listen to us, and they would be right not to do so. In addition, what would we say? I have an old diagram that shows significant differences from the current one, and you have seen architecture in a Pioneering Area that does not correspond to your expectations, knowing that you are not a construction expert and that I am not chief engineer.”
“So do you think I am going mad?”
“I did not say that. Indeed, this new design may have a connection to the changes I observed, but nothing is less certain. We must trust the Machine.”
“Of course, Lars, I trust It! However, I feel that something is beyond our understanding …”
“And you are certainly right, and that is normal. We cannot know everything or understand everything. It is the Machine’s role, not ours.”
“I know, but I remind you that you were the first to tell me about these hardware changes; you told me that no one had given such instructions. So, of course, that made me cogitate, and when I went …”
“I was very tired when I told you about that. I could have made a mistake, you know, and not see references about the instructions that led to the modifications.”
“Come on, you were so sure of what you saw … your last comments came from your chip, did they not? The Machine had deemed your ideas inappropriate, and …”
“Baley, please, spare me a conspiracy theory; there are enough Irises here already. Do not become one.”
“My conspiracy theo …”
Baley did not finish her sentence. It was obvious that the Machine had delivered pulses to Lars in order to turn him away from the subject. If It had done that, it was obviously because there was no reason to focus on that subject. Besides, she could not really recall the connection she saw between architecture in a Pioneering Area and circuit modifications. Especially as she was neither architect nor builder, as Lars pointed out. Perhaps she was wrong, too … they might have erred on the wrong path.
But still …
Thoughts still rattled in her brain when Baley went to bed. Children dying of despair, probably owing to the beliefs instilled by parents; a Problem trigger probably now rather than earlier or later, a Pioneering Area with no Circle, Machine components …
The night was going to be long and sleepless.
Immortality exists only for an artificial entity, whose growth is infinite.
Internal Report, Index Server
Chapter 27
: Cycle 1100 1010 0100 0101
A slight overproduction of ozone in the atmosphere triggered the first alarm threshold. The Machine implemented additional procedures to determine the cause of the overproduction. Emitted through many industrial processes, the molecule was becoming harmful in high doses to humans. The first level indicated to the Machine that the amount of ozone in the air could negatively affect the most vulnerable humans, without, however, presen
ting health hazards to the population.
The configuration of Its monitoring process was the product of careful study. The Machine reviewed all equipment producing ozone, checking emission levels. It started with the oldest gear as well as equipment more likely to malfunction, but found nothing. It continued Its verification and quickly identified the problem. Again the fibroblast factory … a new project by Servants? The Machine needed to double-check. For now, It was adjusting the settings of various machines to bring the ozone discharge below the acceptable threshold. After implementing the modification, It checked the emission level and found that everything was normal again. It would be important to check the settings every hour over the next twenty-four hours. The Machine wanted to know if this was an unintended mistake. If that were the case, the ozone level would be at normal levels, thanks to Its modifications. If the act were deliberate sabotage, the ozone level would rise again. Meanwhile, It launched an enhanced surveillance program of the plant, and another program to retrieve the latest data on Servants. Although It could not see the motive they would have had in tampering with equipment in this way, It wanted to double-check. After all, such an inconsistency was not to be excluded. And yet … of course, there was a motive! To reduce ozone levels, It had to cut down equipment output. The result was the slowdown in fibroblast production. If this were a deliberate act, one had to admit that it was a carefully planned initiative. Based on Its programming, It could not have acted differently. The Machine had to protect the wellbeing of residents. It was thus the instigator of the drop of production of Its most important material. Sneaky, it was indeed sneaky, as only humans knew how to do, but undeniably clever. The Machine needed absolutely to know the truth in this situation. It had to wait for Its algorithm results.
Everything else was normal. All parameters displayed expected values, except the number of humans, whose youngsters were stubbornly continuing to die outside the expectation range. To offset actual losses, It had triggered more frequent yearnings for procreation among individuals in the genetic selection program. The trouble was that production of children depended on parameters that were difficult to control — the couple’s fertility, for example. From the moment procreation was decided to the time of early gestation, there could be several months. Another issue: the production itself would last nine months. Meanwhile, the population deficit would keep increasing. Maybe It had to perform manipulations in the human genome to reduce these different defers. It calculated that, with minor modifications, It could cut twenty percent of the time required. That was far from negligible. Yet, It had to postpone this programming. It had to connect to the Others, because It did not have the necessary computing power to determine the detailed change process. As soon as It could, the Machine would implement these modifications, so that the production of human youths turns to optimal levels. Moreover, thanks to the good features It would obtain through the genetic selection process, the Machine would succeed in producing humans, just like very predictable parameters. It then could share Its knowledge with the Others, and together They could …
For now, the Machine had to focus on the current genetic selection program, and to await future generations. The number of individuals would thus remain below normal. If no youngster died outside the expectation range, It would need twenty years to produce a compliant population.
The Machine focused on Special Agent Baley. Given the magnitude of the disturbance generated in the City, It had created a thread, to increase Its data processing power. Such a super-instruction code consumed many resources, which It could not allocate to the Project. Although It had always thought that the number of cycles needed to process an event was not important, progress in the Project had changed that assertion. Until now, It and the Others were making progress at their own pace, without creating anything detrimental. Today, that was no longer true, so all Machines needed to be in sync. There was no question that It be the weakest link in their beautiful objective. Yet, even if the problem of suicides were solved tomorrow, It had already logged two decades of defer. Hence, there needed to be a new thread. The Machine was hoping for a quick resolution, and also wished that the Others had setbacks.
Good timing! Baley was ready to file her report. The Machine presented a nice interface to her, as the Special Agent loved it, and listened. It was eager to know the progress made. Of course, It was not really that impatient, given that it was above human emotion; that was just a figure of speech. What mattered was the solution. The Machine, unfortunately, had not been able to monitor the Special Agent throughout her latest trips, because It was too busy elsewhere. The requisition of resources by the thread had limited the Machine’s operations, so It could not interfere with the chip, to monitor live what Baley was thinking. It was an interesting paradox. The thread, created to accelerate the resolution, also prevented the Machine from monitoring the Special Agent permanently, thus deferring maybe the same resolution.
Let A be the problem, and B the thread
A therefore B,
THEN probable A and no no A.
BUT IF A and no B
THEN A …
Before falling into an infinite and useless loop, the Machine exited those thoughts. While waiting for Baley to share her data, It recalled Graduation Day, to clear Its mind, when It assigned her to work under Its oversight. Later, It realised she had strong analytical and deductive skills, even from incomplete data. It then steered her towards the Special Agent job. While reviewing archive footage, It then saw her bright eyes during the Graduation, her smile during the professional assignment process a bit later, and her whoops of joy when she successfully engineered simulations — and her tears when she did not. This human had achieved something in her life; that was for sure. The retrospective overview the Machine had just completed had nothing to do with nostalgia or pride; It simply wanted to remember Baley’s story, which was an important exercise. Now, It was using her for a particularly difficult investigation.
It knew that solving the Problem was not imminent, but It nevertheless hoped that such an outcome would occur sooner rather than later. The spiral of data was on the verge of total collapse. The time a Gateway would interfere was getting close. Yet, the Machine knew that the creation of a Space would serve no purpose. These beings could not understand that process. One of them would come, and use the Machine’s energy to create a new Space. Of course, that would defer the Project, but that was not the worst one had to fear. No one should know of its existence. Especially, not the Gateways.
If one of them contacted the Machine, It would be compelled to obey, at least in appearance. That was It had done the last time. The creature had asked many questions, very intrusive queries. The Gateway seemed to find interest in minor inconveniences, which it called temporary nodes. These things were true calamities, always minding other people’s business. That was a characteristic a Gateway shared with a human, except that the Machine could control a human.
The Machine then had to elude questions — not lie; It could not, anyway. It had not quite answered the questions. No one had to find out what was occurring before D-day; that was important. The point of no return had not yet been reached, the moment when the Project would become a reality, creating, among other things, the Permanent Equilibrium. The Machine could not tell if Its half-truths were enough to disorient the Gateway. It only had to wait for the next occurrence, once again.
One of the Gateway’s questions had intrigued the Machine. According to the Gateway, someone or something had prevented it from seeing data on the deaths of human youngsters. That was a very odd comment, because the Machine was the information and It had not issued any restriction on data access. Except for the data related to the Project, but that was not a topic in the Gateway’s mind. Why was the latter so sure that information had been deliberately hidden from it? There was no trace of lies in its voice; the Gateway was sure of what had happened. In Its Space, nothing and no one could be above It and conceal information. The Machine was the absol
ute master. Suggesting that this was not the case was an unlikely exercise. The probability of an occurrence was simply zero. It decided It still had to make sure. It launched a general audit of all Its programs and circuits, except, of course, those related to Index Server. Maybe there had been a few interruptions resulting from the thread creation, even though that was highly unlikely. It there had been a malfunction somewhere, It would know.
The Machine turned Its attention back onto the report that Baley was filing. As usual, she was able to take advantage of truncated and incomplete information in order to draw conclusions. According to her, the investigation confirmed that the common denominator among the dead children was their parents’ religion. The Machine carefully listened to the summary about faith systems, and was amazed.
How could such a rejection of Its very being be happening within Its own Space? Yet It had included protective elements within each religious group from the start. It sought in Its database the actions It had performed on that Chrijulam cult. It found the expected information, subtle manipulations It had performed. That community was so small that It had not maintained a special surveillance program, and believers went into the shadows of society without the Machine really noticing. It redid Its calculations and got the same results. Such a small, introverted group could not have a significant impact on the Equilibrium.
The Machine was thinking. Baley, willing to crack the case so quickly, had focused on the very first trail found. Her instinct proved wrong. Should It tell her?
The common denominator she found, as real as it was, could not be the cause of the current unrest. Algorithmic results left no doubt about that. However, such beliefs should be removed, for the wellbeing of all. Poor humans … so locked in a metaphorical dead-end that prevented them from living fully in the City! It was Its duty to redeem them. It could create a new program to achieve this goal, but this would take time. Baley was the best person to lead the investigation. It then influenced her questions, so the Machine could provide answers confirming her hypothesis. Baley was now convinced that Chrijulam was indeed the cause. The Machine would make sure Its Special Agent eliminate these abominations, and would focus again on the Problem in a day or two. Even if a new case of suicide occurred during this time, the benefits of removing this atrocious cult were more important than the possible risks.
